LAVAL, Que. – Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (TSX:VRX) is extending the deadline for its more than US$50-billion hostile takeover bid for Botox-maker Allergan (NYSE:AGN).
Quebec-based Valeant, whose cash-and-stock offer was set to expire on Friday, announced after markets closed Friday that it was extending the bid until 5 p.m. ET on Dec 31.
Valeant, backed by activist investor Bill Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Investment holds some 10 per cent of Allergan stock, originally announced its takeover bid back in April and has since boosted it twice to some US$53 billion.
Valeant said on Friday that all other terms and conditions of the bid remain unchanged under the extension.
Meanwhile, Allergan has steadfastly rejected the offer, at times disparaging both the bid and Valeant’s business model.
And on Aug. 1 it filed a lawsuit accusing Valeant and Pershing Square Capital of using fraud and insider trading to further their hostile takeover attempt of the California-based drug company.
Valeant and Pershing responded that Allergan’s allegations were baseless and an attempt to stop Pershing Square’s efforts to replace six of members of the Allergan board.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Valeant shares closed up $1.31 at $122.26, while in New York the issue rose US$1.22 to US$112.26. Allergan stock was up $2.66 at US$158.26 on the New York Stock Exchange.
